Monthly Archives: February 2015

“Geometric Abstraction” Chris Watts

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With each exhibition, we will post interviews with the participating artists along with a photo of said artists in their studios along with  images of their work. In the future, we will post videos of artist interviews.

“Geometric Abstraction” opens February 21, 2015 and runs through March 28, 2015.   The artists included in the exhibition are David Brody, Robert Perlman, Chris Watts.

Artist Interview #3: Chris Watts

Chris Watts

1. Are you a full time artist, if not how do you support your art?

Currently I teach in the Fine Arts Department at Washington State University.

2. When did you consider yourself an artist?

In my teens but in reality I became a professional artist after graduate studies at Ohio University.

3. What are your influences?

When discussing my work I attempt to broaden the influence that order, placement, and patterning have had on the evolution of my inquiries. Topics include Bronze Age monuments, spirals and mazes, Pythagoras, counting processes, scientific structures, bell ringing, Theosophy, sound, the geometrical tradition in art, and of course pattern. The relationship of Art to Science continues to be a rich resource for my creative work. My interest in patterns and systems as expressed through painting and drawing represents a life long commitment to this line of inquiry and expression. Early on in my career I was particularly interested in Constructivism, Suprematism, British Constructionists and Systems artists, Minimalism, Conceptual Art and Art Language.

4. How big is your studio, what kind of lighting?

I have two studios both have north light supplemented with incandescent daylight.

5. What is a typical day in the studio like for you? Do you listen to music, radio or tv in your studio?

Mornings are my best times for studio work. I try to get into the studio at about 9:00 or earlier and work until mid afternoon. Depending on the level of concentration required by the project at hand, I listen to music or have the TV running. If the imagery is detailed or complex I work in silence.

6. What is your preferred medium? Do you work on one project at a time or several?

I work with mixed media but particularly with acrylic paint and paint pens. The imagery ranges from diagrammatic drawings, acrylic paintings to three-dimensional relief structures. I tend to have more than one project going at a time. When I run into a block with one idea I will switch to another format or configuration.

7. Do you have any special or unique tools, devices or process that you use in your art making?

Whatever works in terms of tools or devices. My approach to the work is preconceived and precise. So I tend to generate a considerable number of diagrams and drawings relying on grids.

8. What do you do outside the studio, aside from a job?

I enjoy outdoor wilderness adventures, playing music and upbeat conversations with plenty of laughter over a glass of quality beer.

“Geometric Abstraction” Robert Perlman

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With each exhibition, we will post interviews with the participating artists along with a photo of said artists in their studios along with  images of their work. In the future, we will post videos of artist interviews.

“Geometric Abstraction” opens February 21, 2015 and runs through March 28, 2015.   The artists included in the exhibition are David Brody, Robert Perlman, Chris Watts.

Artist Interview #2: Robert Perlman

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1. Are you a full time artist, if not how do you support your art?

I’m a full time graphic artist, i.e. graphic designer for 50 years. That has been the proverbial day job. While I’m mostly retired, I continue to accept a modest number of design projects.

 2. When did you consider yourself an artist?

I identify as an applied artist. That I also had a committed fine art side was simply an unceremonious, yet necessary complement to a very challenging design profession.

3. What are your influences?

There are innumerable influences. Certainly my first 35 years in New York City exposed me not only to a vibrant gallery and museum milieu, but also an urban environment whose sheer physical and visual character cannot be overstated as a formative agent. A second influence acknowledges the multitude of early Modernist, Abstract Expressionist, and Post Painterly Abstractionist artists whose work may have been helpful in my development. Of note are a few of my favorites: Serge Poliakoff, Nicolas de Stael, Kenzo Okada, and Richard Diebenkorn. A third influence is the planar, two-dimensional vocabulary of the graphic design profession, in which I was gainfully ensconced for decades.

4. How big is your studio, what kind of lighting?

My studio is the attic of my Seattle home. It’s about 350 square feet and comprises a painting, sculpture, graphic design and bookkeeping area. Moreover, it’s the family’s miscellaneous storage facility. On the north, gabled end we installed a large window to augment the artificial light in the painting area. In the roof we installed three small skylights to brighten the entire space.

5. What is a typical day in the studio like for you? Do you listen to music, radio or tv in your studio?

Mostly, I work in multiple sessions with other activities intervening. The interruptions afford fresh assessment when returning to the work, which can otherwise get bogged down. I sometimes listen to music and/or radio, but just as often to nothing.

6. What is your preferred medium? Do you work on one project at a time or several?

My preferred medium is acrylics. I work on paper to facilitate storage of completed paintings. I don’t have adequate space to store stretched canvases. I work on one painting at a time, but I do work simultaneously on exploratory drawings.

7. Do you have any special or unique tools, devices or process that you use in your art making?

Generally, there are two ways I can start a painting. One is to draw or paint directly on my sheet, the other is to enlarge and transfer an existing drawing to the sheet. Of late, I’ve been employing the latter. At this time however, I’m not sure which makes for a better result.

8. What do you do outside the studio, aside from a job?

Aside from the everyday household, meal preparation, and bookkeeping activities that we all perform, I have a regular, classical piano practice regime that I engage in daily. Also, I work out at a gym five days a week.

“Geometric Abstraction” David Brody

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With each exhibition, we will post interviews with the participating artists along with a photo of said artists in their studios along with  images of their work. In the future, we will post videos of artist interviews.

“Geometric Abstraction” opens February 21, 2015 and runs through March 28, 2015.   The artists included in the exhibition are David Brody, Robert Perlman, Chris Watts.

Artist interview #1: David Brody

David Brody studio shot. photo credit, Jason Daniel

David Brody studio shot. photo credit, Jason Daniel

1. Are you a full time artist, if not how do you support your art?

Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to get a lot of time in the studio. I’ve also taught painting and drawing for the past twenty-two years and have been a professor at the University of Washington since 1996. In addition, I’m working on a set of 36 lectures on drawing for The Great Courses/The Teaching Company. It’s set to be released in late 2015. And, I’ve worked as a musician – recorded a number of albums and wrote five books on music. All of this contributes to support my work.

2. When did you consider yourself an artist?

After grad school. When I started showing, getting grants, and reviews.

3. What are your influences?

Too many to name. Everything, from great swaths of the western canon, to Safavid miniatures, to Song Dynasty scrolls to contemporary drawing and painting and illustration and animation. And, of course, the visual world around us.

4. How big is your studio, what kind of lighting?

I have two studios. A 500 square foot space at the university and a smaller one at my home. Both spaces have good natural and artificial light. I also have an office where I do a lot of my digital work.

5. What is a typical day in the studio like for you? Do you listen to music, radio or tv in your studio?

It varies. Some days I’m using my iPad, computer and digital tablet in my office. Other days I’m in one of the studios drawing or painting. Today I spent the morning in my office working digitally and the afternoon in the studio drawing at the easel.

6. What is your preferred medium? Do you work on one project at a time or several?

I generally work on several pieces at a time, often in series. I call on a range of methods and materials from drawing and painting to photography to digital approaches and animation.

7. Do you have any special or unique tools, devices or process that you use in your art making?

Probably not “unique”, but I’ve been drawing on my iPad and just purchased a Cintiq 22HD Touch digital tablet. Some of the work in the Geometric Abstraction show was done using these devices.

8. What do you do outside the studio, aside from a job?

I write and perform music. Study foreign languages – been working on Mandarin recently. And, I also cook.

Outside of the studio, David spends time cooking.

Outside of the studio, David spends time cooking.